


Unexpected

by thesoundofnat



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Bullying, Dinner, nothing graphic tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-20
Updated: 2017-09-20
Packaged: 2019-01-01 02:58:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12147150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesoundofnat/pseuds/thesoundofnat
Summary: “Something tells me you had no idea we were coming,” McCoy said.“I might have kept it from him,” Phil replied with a shrug, but it was Jim Chris couldn’t stop looking at. He’d practically gone white at the sudden realization, looking from McCoy to Phil to Chris and back to McCoy as if expecting them to yell at him for this.But maybe that was Chris’ imagination.(Or, Phil invites Jim and Bones over for dinner without telling Chris, but he quickly realizes that something bigger is up.)





	Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [insane-sociopath](http://insane-sociopath.tumblr.com/) for the prompt!

Chris had lived with Phil for too many years to properly keep count (Phil claimed it was 13), but some days his partner still managed to surprise him. Chris wasn’t sure how, because at this point he felt like he could barely look at Phil without him knowing exactly what was going on in his head, but every once in awhile Phil would do something that took Chris by such surprise that he was almost rendered speechless.

Inviting Jim Kirk over for dinner without asking him was one of them.

Chris had been standing in the kitchen when Phil had gone to answer the door, and instead of returning with an eye roll and a “they tried to sell me an old school vacuumer” he returned with a Jim, who was, of course, accompanied by a McCoy.

All Chris could do for the first couple of seconds was blink at them.

“Get yourself together, Chris, and say hello to our guests,” Phil told him, a little too cheerfully, knowing full well that Chris didn’t appreciate these types of surprises.

He snapped out of it. “Of course. Cadet. Doctor. Nice to see you.” He shook their hands, aware that he hadn’t had a proper talk with either of them in months. Hell, the last time he’d really talked to Jim he’d just scraped his bruised and bloody body off the floor.

“Something tells me you had no idea we were coming,” McCoy said.

“I might have kept it from him,” Phil replied with a shrug, but it was Jim Chris couldn’t stop looking at. He’d practically gone white at the sudden realization, looking from McCoy to Phil to Chris and back to McCoy as if expecting them to yell at him for this.

But maybe that was Chris’ imagination.

“I hope we’re not intruding,” the kid said, his voice steadier than the minor freakout Chris had witnessed a second ago would suggest.

Chris waved a hand at him. “Oh, nonsense. I was just surprised, s’all.”

Jim licked his lips. “But I’m sure you only cooked for two.”

“Chris and I cook for a whole army,” Phil piped up.

Chris nodded. “We like having leftovers for when we get back late during the week. But that won’t be a problem,” he added when he saw Jim’s face. “What with it being close to winter break our meetings usually end quickly, as everyone is in a good mood. I certainly take advantage of that.”

Jim relaxed, finally, but Chris had a feeling he would be watching him the rest of the evening. McCoy, who kept sending his friend quick glances, seemed to have the same idea.

Phil put a hand on Chris’ shoulder. “Let’s set the table and get this party started.”

Chris shot him an amused look. “ _Party_ is overdoing it a bit, honey.”

Phil held out his hands. “ _I’m_  here, so it’s always a party.”

“Whatever you say, dear.”

* * *

 

Chris was so unbelievably happy that McCoy had tagged along, because while Jim laughed in the right places and smiled encouragingly in the others, he was almost entirely silent for the majority of the dinner. Chris and Phil chatted as they usually did, happy to have new faces at their table, and McCoy asked questions when appropriate and agreed with Phil when they talked about work things, but other than that Chris could tell he worked as a source of comfort for Jim, but he wasn’t entirely sure the Jim he remembered would’ve  _needed_ a source for that.

He was starting to suspect this was an entirely different Jim Kirk.

He was so preoccupied with sneakily watching the kid that he barely noticed McCoy accidentally knocking his glass over, and it was only when he saw him standing up in the corner of his eyes that he started paying attention.

“Shoot. I got it,” McCoy said, despite Phil’s protests that it was fine. “Where do you keep napkins?”

Phil was also standing now, freezing momentarily when he couldn’t find the usual stack of napkins on the counter. “Oh, right, we never opened that new package. Excuse me for a moment.”

“I insist on helping,” McCoy said, following him out of the kitchen to help look for those napkins, leaving Chris and Jim alone at the table.

Jim cleared his throat and pointed at the wet trail on the wood. “Lucky it’s just water.”

“Oh, we wouldn’t really mind if it was anything else, as long as it didn’t get onto our clothes.”

Jim nodded, his gaze never landing on Chris. Not fully. Instead Chris had to be content with fleeting glances that never lasted longer than a second.

He sat up straighter. “Kirk, I-”

“We got the napkins,” Phil said, suddenly appearing with McCoy right behind him saying, “Please, let me do it.”

Chris sank back in his chair, his eyes still on Jim as Phil and McCoy wiped the water off the table in two seconds. Jim was pointedly not looking his way.

Okay, so Chris was confused. In fact, confused was a bit of an understatement. He was full on bewildered, but he seemed to be the only one sharing this sentiment. Next to him, Phil continued to talk with their guests as if this was common, and across the table McCoy refilled his glass with a promise to only empty it in his mouth this time and proceeded to grin when Phil made a joke. All the while Jim watched them, his attention seemingly never faltering, and making absolutely sure to not look at Chris at all.

And Chris could tell his mind was actually elsewhere, partly because he almost hit the ceiling when Chris said his name - twice, since he hadn’t reacted the first time.

Something was definitely going on here, and Chris wasn’t liking it at all.

Phil, seeing his distress and how he was pondering over how to ask “what the fuck?” without sounding so crass, came to his rescue - much like he usually did, that charming bastard.

“Honey? Can I talk to you for a second? Excuse us,” he added to the younger men who only looked at them somewhat curiously.

“Okay,  _what_ is happening here?” Chris asked once they’d shut themselves in his home office. “That Kirk in there isn’t even remotely close to the Kirk I met all those months ago. What is the Academy  _doing_ to him, Phil?”

Phil smiled sadly, and it was Chris’ least favorite smile since it never meant good news. “That’s why I invited him over. This is the fourth time I’ve had to patch him up this week.”

“What-”

“It’s not visible unless you pay attention, but he’s moving very carefully because he’s still in pain. Being beaten up does that to you.”

Chris didn’t like how frantically his heart was beating against his chest. “What do you mean?”

“It seems as if Jim’s made some enemies, and they don’t beat around the bush about how they feel about him. He won’t tell me more, but I figured if there’s anyone he can trust around here it’s us. Especially you.”

Chris, speechless and uncertain of what to even process first, managed to stammer out, “Me?”

“McCoy and I work together, as you know. Well, we’ve found a common concern now, and he once told me that Kirk speaks very highly of you.”

“That doesn’t mean he  _trusts_ me.”

“Close enough, right?”

Chris shifted. “What should I do?”

“Show him he has a friend, mainly. A friend of higher authority that will actually listen to him.”

So that was what Chris did.

It wasn’t easy, mind you, because getting Kirk alone without practically calling him into his office was hard, and in the end that was exactly what Chris was forced to do.

“You asked to see me, sir?”

“Ah, yes, Kirk. Come in,” Chris said nonchalantly as if he hadn’t been glaring a hole in the door until Jim’s knock. “Have a seat.”

Jim did, all the while looking extremely worried, which to be fair was a nice change from the perpetual blank face he’d sported during the dinner the previous week. “Am I in trouble?”

“Have you done something to get in trouble for? Wait, don’t answer that,” he added when Jim looked less than appeased. “I just wanted to talk to you, s’all. Not about school work. Not necessarily.” He leaned back in his seat and tried to remember what he’d learnt from his years in space. Not that Jim Kirk was anything like space, really, but in this sea of stars he was most certainly a galaxy, and galaxies had more to them than you would ever know.

Wait, where was he? Oh, right. What he’d learnt. When it all came down to it you had to act calmer than you were in order to both think straight and make your crew trust you more. He had to pretend he knew what he was doing, and it was the same thing when it came to dealing with students.

Jim seemed lost enough without him adding onto that with his own insecurities.

“It has come to my attention,” he started, pausing to add, “through my husband, of course,” which made Jim’s lips quirk up in an almost existing smile. “that you’re having some trouble with a few other students.”

Jim shifted in his chair, visibly uncomfortable. “It’s nothing, sir. Just… a complication.”

“That’s making you spend more time in the hospital than you ever would’ve. Not to mention how jumpy and nervous you now seem. Very different from the Jim Kirk I met in that bar.”

“That Jim Kirk had no choice but to act that way,” Jim mumbled, his eyes anywhere but on Chris now.

“Maybe so, but I don’t believe for a second that this is the true Jim Kirk either. If it’s getting this bad then we need to step in.”

“Please don’t.”

“Son, this can’t go on.”

“You’ll only make it worse.”

Jim’s pleading eyes shouldn’t have made him relent so easily, but he found himself sighing in defeat anyway. “At least promise me to come talk to me about it. Keep me updated on what’s going on.”

Jim crossed his arms. “Do I have to?”

“Yes.”

“Just… just don’t tell anyone else. It’s bad enough to have Bones looking at me like I’m something fragile that will break.”

Chris guessed that ‘Bones’ was McCoy and decided to not comment on it, and said instead, “He just wants to help you. As do Phil and I.”

“I know. And I appreciate it.”

“If you want to show your appreciation come over for dinner tomorrow evening. And bring McCoy.”

Jim’s grin was weak and small, but it was there. And thus started a new weekly tradition.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://thesoundofnat.tumblr.com/)


End file.
